1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas-liquid separating device and an electric power generating apparatus, and more particularly, to a gas-liquid separating device which separates water from gas including moisture vapor, and to an electric power generating apparatus which comprises the gas-liquid separating device.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, small-sized electronic devices such as a laptop computer, a digital camera, wrist watch, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), an electronic databook, etc. have made outstanding progress and development. In order to substitute for a primary cell and a secondary cell which are used for a power source of an electronic device, research and development have been actively performed for a fuel cell which realizes large energy capacity.
A fuel cell is for converting chemical energy to electric energy by electrochemically reacting fuel and oxygen in the air. The electrochemical reaction in which the chemical energy of the fuel is directly converted to electric energy is applied to a fuel cell. Thus, a by-product is generated by the electrochemical reaction. The by-product is in a state of gas, and the gas includes carbon dioxide, unreacted fuel, oxygen, etc. and further includes water in a state of moisture vapor generated in the fuel cell. There is a technique in which the gas is cooled down by a radiation fin, a heat recovery device, etc., water in the gas is condensed, and the water in a state of liquid is reutilized (see for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-236598 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-236599).
However, in the techniques described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-236598 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-236599, the water is condensed by cooling down the gas by a radiation fin or a heat recovery device. Thus, the apparatus is large in size because of having to be provided with the radiation fin or the heat recovery device.
Further, in the techniques described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-236598 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-236599, gravity is used in order to send and recover, to a predetermined position, water which is obtained by condensation by the radiation fin or the heat recovery device. When the apparatus is used in a state of being fixed in a predetermined position, the direction of the gravity with respect to the apparatus is constant. However, when the apparatus is applied to a portable equipment such as an electronic equipment, etc., the apparatus cannot be fixed in a predetermined position. Thus, the direction of the gravity with respect to the apparatus varies. Therefore, the water obtained by condensation flows to various positions depending on the varying directions of the apparatus, and the water cannot be accumulated in a fixed position.